Whine 'n' Cheese

A fifty something guy caught between earning a living in the corporate world and trying to live a personal life as a latent hippie.

Name:
Location: Toronto, Canada

Fiftysome male working in the corporate world to make a living but not a life. My interests in life are diverse from enjoying the city with it's music, theatre and range of characters to enjoying being in a canoe miles from nowhere in peace and quiet. My 14 year old son is the greatest blessing in my life even though he lives with his Mom he spends weekends with me and adds colour to my life.

Saturday, December 31, 2005

New Years Eve

We have about twelve hours until we usher in a new year. I personally feel that this is the best holiday of the year. Usually I have a chance to share a little festivities with some friends during the evening and toast the new year at midnight. That won't be the case this year following my move up here to the city north of Toronto. Even the one local pub I have found is closing at 6:00 p.m. this evening. I guess I will be toasting the new year on my own.

I'm not too upset by that though since what appeals to me about the new year itself is the whole aspect of a new clean start. Yes, yes I know that is not truly the case but it is an opportunity to reflect on the past year and if you feel that you would benefit from some changes commit to making those during the coming year. Hence the New Year's Resolutions:

Personally I haven't done too bad during the last year and I have seen some positive changes in my life , not including this move north. I would like to do a bit better at taking care of my health and I will resolve to visit the gym more often.

I have been know to have a drink now and again on some special occasion, those occasions have included Mondays, Tuesdays ... you get the picture, so I will resolve to limit my public consumption to weekends and a glass of wine at home during the weekdays. The spin off of that my be an improvement to my financial situation as well.

I am noted for my skills in procrastination but alas these are not truly of benefit to me so I will resolve to be more punctual in completing my tasks. I am great at preparing "To Do Lists" mind just very poor on the to-doing.

I have enjoyed photography since my university days during that time I also attended a part time course in photography at the N.S. College of Art. When I parted company from my ex she threw out all of my darkroom equipment and about ten thousand negatives. Since that time I have seldom taken pictures other than capturing outings with my son, even though I did purchase an inexpensive digital camera last year. So I will resolve to post a photo a day on this blog which in turn will encourage me to actually get off my butt and shoot more.

Also in the creative area I have a love for art and painting in particular. I used to frequent the AGO and I have frequently visited the McMichael gallery. Mind you the McMichael is about fifteen minutes away from me now and I haven't been there since moving up here but that's another matter. I have for many years wanted to try my own hand at painting. In fact during the last year I purchased most of the necessary materials for watercolour painting. They are still securely packaged in their original coverings but I resolve to actually open these packages and try my hand painting. See procrastination resolve above.

And finally I have enjoyed beginning this little blog and I resolve to continue to post daily or as frequently as I have an opportunity to do so.

So there you go off to a fresh start for a New Year and I encourage anyone who is so inclined to do the same. To be sure I will lift a glass of wine this evening to wish the old year farewell and to welcome the new. I wish you all a very Happy New Year. Cheers!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Growing Violence in Toronto

I love living in the city but the increase in violence is very disturbing. On Boxing Day on Yonge Street in the heart of the city, with the street filled with shoppers, a gun battle erupted between two groups of youth. The result was the death of a beautiful young girl of 15 years who was an innocent bystander who had been out shopping with her Mom and her a sister. Six other were sent to hospital and at last report one was still in critical condition.

This senseless violence and death evokes the expected outcry from the public and the empty promises up both politicians and authorities. Clearly there is not a simple solution to the current trend of youth gangs and guns. I could fill pages with reasons for their existence but they do exist and they will not be eliminated quickly or easily. Without dealing with their causes and there are many; the short term solution maybe to increase the judicial response to possession of weapons, be it guns or knives etc. with an immediate jail term for possession and longer jail terms for their use. That would help with giving by the police a chance at removing some of the most violent youth from the streets and bringing about a little more safety for our society.

I am less concerned with my own safety in the city as I am with the safety and the way of life of the young people. I am a parent of a 13 year son. He is in relative safety living in a small town of less than four thousand up on the shores of lake Simcoe but it is only relative. The violent way of life chosen by some of the young could very easily make it's way into the smaller communities too.

Today I can't help but feel the sorrow, anger and outrage of the parents, family and friends of this young girl. She was by the newspaper reports an "A" student, athlete and role model within her age group and school. She was not part of the youth problem but that violent way of life ended her short life before it could really begin. When or if the culprits are caught and brought to justice, that justice will only address the outcome and not he cause. If the cause is be addressed it will need the support of the community and society as a whole to embrace a change in thinking and attitude toward violence.

To use a quote I heard many years ago "It is not guns that kill people but people who kill people." Yes we have to try to get rid of guns immediately but we must purge from society the attitude toward the acceptance violence.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Rain Rain Go Away

I'm Canadian, I'm proud of it and I enjoy the diversity of all of the seasons in their turn. Rain in the spring slowly bringing the plants back to life or starting new life. The burning heat of summer reflecting off the surface of a lake as I paddle a canoe. The beauty of the fall leaves when I hike through the bush or just enjoy their beauty driving though the countryside. Then finally the crisp air and snow covered ground in winter when I can swoosh down a hill with a few thousand of my closest friends.

This year we seem to have a problem and I am thinking that I may have to bring my grievance to the man upstairs. We are only two days away from the new year and it is raining in fact it rained yesterday and the day before. We have rain scheduled straight through until the middle of next week. The New Years weekend when I have an extra day off and I was hoping to trek up north to throw myself down a hill we have no snow. GRRRRR! God are you listening?

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Heading Back Downtown

Ten years ago when I separated from the exwife I moved to a part of the city which I enjoyed. It is an area known as the Beach. I loved the area because it was very safe, kids still played on the side walks and in the parks. At the time I was running a lot and there are a series of paved paths which are great for running, blading and biking. This area was once the cottage country for Toronto but now is rather like a small town within the city. The area is full of sidewalk cafes, coffee shops, pubs and just a very friendly area. It is also the named after the beautiful sandy beach area on the shore of Lake Ontario. The water may not be the cleanest but the beach is very beautiful.

In addition to that it had great access to the core of the city through the transit system. I could hop on a streetcar and go downtown to a concert or go to a gallery or play. I often took my son on our bikes and we road back and forth to St. Lawrence Market or up the bike paths to Sunny Brook Park. As he grew a little stronger we bladed quite a bit as well. I had a group of friends with whom I bladed and ran and really enjoyed the whole lifestyle.

I was working in Mississauga which is on the west side of the city but my drive back and forth to work wasn't too bad. Then about five years ago I took a new job with a company up in Vaughan, just north of Toronto. The drive to and from work was long even in the good weather but in winter it became and hour and a half each way. At the same time my attitude about the Beach area began to change. Many of the folks I had known had married and moved away, so I had lost most of the partners I had for blading and biking. Even the people in the pubs had seemed to change and much of the original friendliness was gone. My knee had gotten worst and worst to the point the doctor had told me to quit running. Along with the changes I just steadily got fed up with the drive and decided I should move up to an area near my work in Vaughan. I had a problem though because there were very few apartment buildings so I asked almost everyone I met if they knew of an apartment for rent. Finally about six months ago a fellow I knew said that he and his wife had just bought another house and they had discussed building an apartment in the basement. He asked if I was interested but I declined.

As time went on I still didn't find a place so I went back to this guy and asked if they had rented their basement yet. He said no but if I was interested they would consider it again. He invited me over to have a look. The house was in a very quiet neighbourhood and it appeared to be only about ten years old. The basement was fairly large and very clean and modern. He said that they would build a new kitchen and an entry way plus give me a fairly large storage area and a private bathroom. I agreed and left it to him to make the changes. I went back to my landlord and gave my two months notice.

It took a couple of months before the work was done but they had it finished just in time for my move. The apartment is very new and clean but after having lived there for four months now I am having second thoughts. I can't get used to living in darkness. I have tons of ceiling pot lights but the problem is that the two small windows open into window wells which are below ground. They are built properly but they don't have the direct access to sunlight.
When I wake up in the morning I never know whether it is night or day. That is really getting to me but that is only part of the problem.

The real issue is the area in which I am living. It is an Italian residential area. The homes are very nice the streets are neat and clean but the whole area is nothing but houses and malls. I have found one pub but even that is very friendly. There is nothing for a single person to do up here. I am not a person who enjoys sitting and watching television. I prefer to be out and doing things. I do have a nice gym to go to but there are no real paved paths to bike or blade on. The paths they do have go from gravel to concrete sidewalks on to the street and so on. Just in case you may not be familiar with blading, even one little stone or sidewalk crack can be a problem. So I have lost the chance to blade or really to bike and those things have become important since I am not supposed to be running anymore.

There are a couple of those big movies complexes but no real theatre and no live music. I miss going to the symphony or dropping in at a pub with a live band. I miss the little shops where customers are still people. I'm sure that many of you may not appreciate it but I like the little older wooden buildings and houses that have character. I love the shops with the vegtables and flowers piled out in front and spilling into the street.

So here I am faced with living in an area I don't want to be in and feeling guilty about walking out on a friend who converted his basement into an apartment for me. I have told my son that we have to stick it out for at least a year and in the meantime we can look around and find another area to move to. I really would like the next move to be the last move.

This year my son was only with me for a couple of days before Christmas and I had to take him home about noon of Christmas Day. I had dinner with a buddy and his daughter on Christmas and since then I have been back up here in Vaughan. WITH NOTHING TO DO!

I came in to work on Monday and Tuesday really only as a way to fill the time. Now I am faced with filling the time until we actually get back to our regular routine on January 2nd. I went over to the one little pub and they told me that they wern't even going to open on New Year's Eve. I don't really want to go down into the city and face driving all the way back up here afterward. On top of which if I go down there I will end up having more than a few drinks and I don't want to be drinking and driving.

Well I guess I will be listening to some music and reading or I might start to dabble with the water colours. I am planning on trying to teach myself to paint watercolours this year but I didn't plan on doing that on New Year's Eve. Anyone want to come over for a drink?

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Here we go again!

Christmas is past and the New Year is just around the corner and I thought it was time I started a new blog. I enjoy exchanging ideas or just having the opportunity to vent a little and I think it is healthy to be ablt to do that. Especially when you live alone and don't really feel comfortable exchanging personal ideas with the folks in the corporate world.

New Years has always been the most important day of the year to me, a fresh page and a clean start. Well at least the idea is great the reality isn't always the same. No matter how much we wish that we could truely have a clean start it can never happen. All the same though it is a great feeling to look at the start of the new year as a chance to get back on track or a chance to change your course.

Unfortunately I had to drop in to the office today to fax away a couple of reports so that some people can get paid. The plants are not operating over the holiday week and there are only a few of the maintenance guys in to work on the machines during this break in the continuous cycle of production. It's a strange feeling to walk though the plants which are so quiet today when normally they are so loud that you can't have a conversation with another person in the manufacturing area. The guys doing the maintenance work all seemed in pretty good spirits and we shared a couple of laughs.

I think when I leave here today I will drag my sorry butt over to the gym for a while. I haven't been there in almost two weeks with all the social things going on just before the Christmas Break. I did nothing during the last couple of weeks but eat rich food, especially deserts which I never normally touch. So I think a added a couple of pounds of reserve fuel which I could do well to work off. I enjoy the sense of accomplishment when I work out. I know that it is good for the body, even my aging body, but the positive mental aspects are the real reason I go to the gym.

I used to be a runner until I was told that if I continued to run I could end up having to have a knee replacement operation. I missed getting out and going for a run and leaving all of the world behind. It is hard to explain to others that it feels wonderful to finish a run and be physically tired out but mentally at peace. I started to run not only to improve my health but to reduce my stress. The visits to the gym help but it's not the same. Much better than doing nothing mind you but not the same sense of leaving all the world behind.

Well as I started this post it was to say that I was returning to writing a bit because I found it a great way to express myself and New Years is a best time of year to embark on a new course.

I look forward to your feedback and comments if you are so inclined.

Have a Great Day and a Great Start to your New Year!